The 15th Annual Dancers for Life Returns to Landis Performing Arts Center

RIVERSIDE – August 11, 2009. Dancers for Life celebrates its 15th season at Landis Performing Arts Center on Saturday, October 3, 2009, at 8 pm, with a pre-concert reception and silent art auction at 6:30 pm.

Dancers for Life 15...dancing beyond borders is a benefit dance event to raise awareness and funds for HIV/AIDS care, prevention and educational programs, while also promoting the art of dance throughout the Inland Empire.

This year, Dancers for Life is extending its reach to support HIV/AIDS programs globally. Through the Loma Linda University Global Health Institute, all the proceeds from the Dancers for Life 15 will be donated to the Fuyang AIDS Orphan Salvation Association (AOS), a grassroots NGO in Central China that cares for children living with HIV/AIDS, provides education for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and provides education in communities in which these children live and suffer from stigmatization and discrimination. AOS began its work by providing one HIV+ child with physical examinations in Beijing and securing anti-retroviral treatment. AOS now supports over 600 children and their families, and the total scope of support extends to over 6,000 people. Of the 600 children affected by HIV/AIDS, around 25 children are living with HIV/AIDS. The majority of AOS children do not have HIV/AIDS, but come from families where either one or both parents are living with HIV/AIDS. AOS children come from 300 separate families and over 40 different villages throughout Fuyang and Henan province in China. For more information on AOS, please go to: http://www.faaids.com/en/aboutus.asp.

Dancers for Life 15 features some of the most exciting established and emerging dance artists, choreographers and dance companies from Southern California and Mexico, including:

BARE Dance Company: Based in Orange County and founded by Mike Esperanza in 2005, BARE offers a diverse vision of movement to the arena of dance. With a collection of dancers molded to express humanity through poetic motion, the company breaks the wall of representation and lets art flirt with the mind.

Justine Lemos: Justine Lemos recently received her PhD in Anthropology at UC Riverside. She received her MA in Anthropology from UC Riverside in 2005, her MA in Dance from Mills College in 2002, and her BA in Dance Anthropology from Hampshire College in 1999. She has extensive experience teaching dance, music, drama, and public speaking. As a principal dancer in Nataraj Dance and Music Company, she has taught workshops on classical Indian dance and music in schools and in the community. For Dancers for Life, Justine will perform "Kalyani Pallavi" a choreography in the classical Indian Odissi style by Ranjanaa Devi based on variations of the classical musical mode Raga Kalyan, which is associated with the color red, indicating passion and sensuality. The rhythmic structure follows a seven-beat cycle. This dance is representative of Devi, the manifestation of female power in Hinduism. The piece opens with a short verse evoking and describing Goddess Kali.

Lineage Dance: Lineage Dance is a contemporary dance company dedicated to raising money for nonprofit organizations and making the arts accessible to audiences of all demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Lineage is based in Los Angeles and tours the country to raise money for charities nation-wide.

Lux Boreal Danza Contemporánea (Tijuana, Mexico): Founded in 2002, at a time when Mexico was going through many transitions due to political, social and cultural phenomena, members of Lux Boreal decided to join the movement of decentralizing dance. Members of Lux Boreal graduated from the School of Contemporary Dance of Mazatlan. They chose the city of Tijuana, Baja California to develop as a young company. Supported by Casa de la Cultura de Tijuana, the Municipal Institute for Art and Culture, the Baja California Institute of Culture and the Cultural Center Tijuana, Lux Boreal has been able to develop contemporary artistic movements, in a city that today is becoming a cultural shaft in Mexico, with unimaginable reaches beyond its frontiers.

Palindrome Performance Group: Loyola Marymount University dance professor, Damon Patrick Rago was honored with Lester Horton Dance Award for outstanding achievement in performance for his evening-length piece, "MANIFOLD" in 2008. Damon is artistic director for Palindrome Performance Group, a contemporary dance company. He also continues to freelance as a performer throughout California.

Pennington Dance Group: The Pennington Dance Group (PDG) is committed to artistic excellence in creating, performing and preserving the work of founding director John Pennington, and of other contemporary and past dance artists. Collaborating with visual and performing artists of note, the PDG creates and performs works that contain social, emotional, political, abstract and scientific themes that appeal to a wide audience. In seeking to preserve diverse contemporary dance traditions, the PDG is also dedicated to the truthful recreation and reconstruction of significant works by seminal artists of the past. The PDG aspires to cultivate an understanding and love of dance through education in the schools and in the community, through national and international performances, and other innovative programming.

Tim Rubel: Tim Rubel is a choreographer, dancer and teacher. He creates dances for concert stages, regional theatres and community arts events. He was the founder and Artistic Director of The Theatre Expansion in Providence, RI where he directed and choreographed most of their productions. Highlights include directing the Rhode Island premiere of the play Painted Alice as well as the world premieres of the Dance Theatre pieces Sikyatki and Tim’s own, Berenger's Body. Tim also produced the work of many local and regional dance artists through Theatre Expansion's Dancestravaganza Festival. He danced professionally with Fusionworks Dance Company in Rhode Island and with Windhover Dance Company in Massachusetts. His choreography has been presented on both U.S. coasts at various places including Anatomy Riot (Los Angeles), Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre (Cape Cod), The Dance Complex (Boston), Perishable Theatre (Providence) and several others. He is currently an M.F.A. candidate in the Dance Department at UC Riverside where he has also taught Dance.

Vox Dance Theatre: Vox Dance Theatre was formed by Sarah Swenson in September of 2004 to present her own choreography and the works of others in the modern and post-modern traditions. A neo-modernist, Swenson's work is a fusion of the classical modern techniques, theatre, and improvisation. She is committed to the values of historical modern dance while using them in new ways, and seeks to engage the audience in thought as well as feeling. A company of individuals, the gifts of each dancer are recognized and used in the development of new work. The creative atmosphere is one of discipline and support, encouraging growth and developing artistry in its members. Vox Dance Theatre is continually engaged in the creation and presentation of unique works of dance and dance theatre to the greater Los Angeles community, and to national and international audiences.

About Dancers for Life

Dancers for Life is a vehicle for dance artists and choreographers to respond to the AIDS pandemic and contribute work that translates into resources for people living with and/or affected by HIV/AIDS.

Founded in 1990 by Jo Dierdorff, Professor of Dance at Riverside City College, the mission of Dancers for Life is to raise HIV/AIDS awareness and to raise money for HIV/AIDS programs. Since its inception, Dancers for Life has raised over $70,000 for the programs of Inland AIDS Project.

This year, Dancers for Life is extending its reach to support HIV/AIDS programs globally. Through the Loma Linda University Global Health Institute, all the proceeds from the Dancers for Life 15 will be donated to the Fuyang AIDS Orphan Salvation Association (AOS).

Dancers for Life also seeks to expand dance presentation in the Inland Empire; to expand performance opportunities for local, national and international artists; and to expose the Inland Empire community to contemporary dance through performance initiatives and education. Since its inception, Dancers for Life has showcased more than 120 local, national, and international choreographers and dance artists producing exciting dance works.

Ticket Information

$15 General Admission
$10 Students/Seniors
For ticket reservation, contact Landis Performing Arts Center at (951) 222-8100 or go to www.landispac.com.

Venue Information

Landis Performing Arts Center
Riverside City College
4800 Magnolia Avenue
Riverside, CA 92506
(951) 222-8100

Parking Information

Complimentary parking is available in lots A, B, E, and F, and in the new RCC Parking Structure on Magnolia and Terracina. For the convenience of our patrons, handicap parking is available in all of the lots and on Mine Okubo Avenue (accessible from Ramona/City College Drive) on performance night only.

Photo Availability

High resolution images are available for the press, if requested.

Contact Information

John Medina, Artistic Director
(951) 310-9498
dancersforlife13@yahoo.com

Jo Dierdorff, Production Director
(951) 222-8244
jotoes1@aol.com

Meghan Cochran, Liaison to LLU Global Health Institute
(909) 908-6819
meghancochran@gmail.com